Filling the gap between planning and doing: Psychological factors involved in the successful implementation of saving intention

Previous research on the psychology of saving has tended to compare groups of savers and non-savers without controlling for their intentions. As a result, the variables that are known to covary with saving/non-saving are mainly those that covary with forming saving intentions (attitudes, motives, etc.). However, the step from saving intention to actual saving is not straightforward and may require careful planning and efforts of self-control. In this respect it is important to know the factors that impact on the process of saving intention realisation. On the basis of insights from the behavioural life-cycle hypothesis [Shefrin, H. M. & Thaler, R. H. (1992). Mental accounting, saving and self-control. In G. Lowenstein & J. Elster (Eds.) Choice over time (pp. 287–330). New York: Russell Sage Foundation] and research on intention-behaviour consistency [Gollwitzer, P. M. (1993). Goal achievement: The role of intentions. In W. Stroebe & M. Hewstone (Eds.) European Review of Social Psychology (Vol. 4, pp. 141–186). Chichester, England: Wiley], three factors are hypothesised to covary with successful implementation of saving intention: time horizon, usage of certain expenditure control techniques and perceived easiness of expenditure control. Two datasets are used in the study – a questionnaire survey conducted in Belarus in 2005 and several waves of the DNB Household Survey. In both datasets we compare two groups of respondents – those who planned to save and implemented this intention (the “plan-and-do” group) and those who planned to save, but failed to realise this plan (the “plan-in-vain” group). The data support the significance of time horizon and control techniques, while the 3rd factor – perceived easiness of expenditure control – receives mixed support.